In Response To: Back from the Past: Halo Prologue *VERY LONG* (Alexis)
: A long time ago, I stumbled upon a Halo Proglogue on Bungie website (I
: presume) that I have saved on my computer and recently
: "refound," so to speak. I reread it and it's kind of cool to see
: the evolution of story and Universe elements in the Halo Universe.
: When replying to this message, PLEASE do not include the full Prologue
: itself, just the pieces you are replying to. Thanks.
: Here's the full text: Prologue - Our Introduction to the Cosmos
: When man finally became dominant over Earth, he looked upwards to the
: Heavens, that inky darkness permeated only by the frosty twinkle of
: distant suns, their resplendent beauty looking down upon the young Earth
: from billions of light-years in the past. One can easily imagine
: paleolithic man staring space ward, wondering what it would be like to
: cross that inconceivable distance and bridge the gap between worlds, to
: what mysteries were held in the grasp of far planets. Time progressed, and
: paleolithic man died, his bones bleaching white in the sun, eventually
: turning to dust and becoming one with the hills, but the longing held deep
: within his breast to reach upwards to that empyrean world above never
: faltered, and was carried on by countless generations.
: As things often go, imagination precedes technology, and space flight
: was no different. Hundreds, if not thousands of years before means had
: been realistically conceived to propel humankind into the Cosmos, writers,
: poets, and great thinkers had oft asked what the depths of the Universe
: would be like.
: Then, in the middle of the 20th century A.D. man slowly waded off from
: his harboring sands on Earth, and into the shores of the interstellar
: ocean. Once more, time wound on , and slowly, ever so slowly, man made his
: entrance into the universe known. At first, small ships traversed
: relatively small distances between the planets of the solar system,
: carrying passengers, light cargos and information to newly developed
: colonies built on the inhospitable landscapes of dead worlds. The
: desolation surrounding these colonies did nothing to hamper the spirits of
: those brave souls who made these martian enclaves home, however, and soon
: the lanes between mans' worlds hummed with the sounds of humanity. At the
: center of this burgeoning stellar empire stood Terra Firma, Earth.
: 2322 will be a date remembered by mankind for as long as it endures. It
: was the year that saw the birth of the FTL drive, enabling us to traverse
: the vast distances between our worlds in tens of minutes, rather than
: years and those beyond the reach of our system in mere months. By warping
: the very fabric of space/time, the new drives allowed FTL equipped vessels
: to traverse inconceivable distances. The Colonization had begun.
: Under the newly formed SolCore government, vast projects were undertaken to
: populate the first worlds outside the Universe, and in 2350, the first FTL
: equipped colony ships, led by SCS Hermes left Earths' orbiting space docks
: for the stellar system in proximity to the Triffid Nebula, some 2,400
: light-years distant.
: Outward we flew, leaving but a trail of ions to tell of our passing, a
: gossamer web spreading from the cradle of Humanity, stretched by the sum
: of our technology and ambitions into the unending night of space. So came
: we to the interstellar game, small, but destined to be key players. Our
: colonies grew, and soon they began to send forth ships of their own, to
: colonize yet more systems, and to search; for still, in the vastness of
: space, and the years and distances traveled, we were alone in the
: darkness.
: How rapidly all of that changed. In 2802, as a new century was dawning ,
: P-2091 , formally named 'Reach,' under the authority of the Antilles
: sector launched the SCS Percipere to explore near globular star cluster
: GC3211. At 2200 hours, August 13th, 2802, Percipere reported long range
: sensor contact with a metallic object, traveling roughly at her velocity,
: on a course that would bring the object on a dead collision with the
: vessel. At the time, Percipere was traveling at 1.19 the speed of light,
: or, roughly 20 percent over the speed of light. Barring any natural
: phenomenon, the object approaching the SolCore vessel was of otherworldly
: origin, intelligent in nature. The following is a transcript of the first
: encounter between the ships of man, and those who would be Covenant.
: Recently declassified by SolCore Internal Security, these recordings
: provide valuable information on the initial encounter between man and
: alien.
: Chapter One - Pleased to meet you, too.
: 2213 hours, August 13, 2802. Coordinates -
: Percipere: Antilles Command, long range DeltScan sensors picking up an object
: 48 light minutes out.
: AntCom: Go ahead, Percipere.
: Percipere: She's a burner, AntCom, speed is 1.19 light, matching ours.
: Computer's running analysis now, but if it keeps on that trajectory, it's
: going to run right into us.
: AntCom: Percipere, continue monitoring, and slow to .45l. Request that you
: open relays and transmit realtime data to nearest monitoring post.
: Percipere: Understood, AntCom, Percipere out.
: The Comm. relays are silent for a moment, as the crew of Percipere scurry to
: carry out their new set of objectives. The FTL drive is idled down to a
: fraction of it's previous power, the newfound energy being diverted to her
: advanced sensor arrays, located in the bulbous Scanning Node, directly
: beneath the small command bridge. As more information becomes available,
: Percipere submits it directly to Science Station Erudition, in orbit with
: P-1880, an uninhabited lump of rock some 800 light years distant.
: Percipere: Erudition, initial scans complete. This thing in front of us is
: metallic in composition, with a basic pattern to it's design, and internal
: resonance detects a catacomb layout to the interior structure. We're
: looking at one highly unusual asteroid, or we're talking Directive 401B.
: Directive 401B, for those unaccustomed to SolCore policy, is the plan
: designed to be implemented should contact with an object of alien origin
: be made. The directive, established during the 98th SolCore Legislative
: session, basically gave a set of directions that any ship or person
: operating under the authority of the SolCore government was to follow,
: during initial contact. Among them, were messages in all of Earths
: languages, those from the whales, and in the form of mathematics. Images
: of Earths leaders, and several recordings from the human experience. The
: directive was an extension of the gold LP's that were carried aboard the
: Voyager I and II spacecraft as they journeyed throughout the solar system.
: Erudition: Percipere, we're forwarding data to AntCom now, you'll renewing
: direct contact with them throughout the rest of the operation. Good luck,
: and don't screw it up, boys.
: Percipere: Received, Erudition. Thanks for the help, and don't worry, this is
: only a training flight for some of us.
: At this point, AntCom breaks in on the frequency, as Erudition clears the
: waves for more pressing traffic.
: AntCom: Percipere, authority granted to initiate Directive 401B, and take any
: reasonable actions necessary to carry them through. Continue submitting
: data through Station Erudition. We're sending the authorization now. Out.
: AntCom, 2200 light-years away releases a coded burst of information, tuned
: directly to Percipere's onboard computer. The DatBurst contains required
: information that allows the computer to unlock protocol commands for
: Directive 401B. With 401B protocol activated, the Percipere's main relay
: dish aligns itself directly with the oncoming object, and begins
: broadcasting Earths' message of peace. This will not stop until AntCom
: overrides the signal with a second coded DatBurst that will shut down
: 401B.
: Percipere, however, is not a civilian vessel, she is a ship of the
: SolCore military, and as such, more than adequately armed and armored to
: deal with a wide number of situations that might arise. She won't be going
: into anything unprepared. Minutes after AntCom initializes 401B, the call
: filters down the ranks that Percipere is at Defense Readiness Three, the
: highest state of alert during peacetime. Weapon stations are manned, and
: weapons are loaded, but they are not authorized 'free' yet. Shields are
: charged and holding just above 30%.
: Tense minutes pass, the object is drawing closer. Soon, it will be in
: range for visual identification. At Contact minus 8, the bridge view
: screen is opened, and for the first time in thousands of years, man has
: come into contact with an artificial object not of his making.
: The spacecraft, as no doubt remains now, is roughly 600 meters in
: length, oval in shape, except that it looks as if the rear has been
: flattened, and the curve of the lower hull flows seamlessly into a gentle
: upward slope, tapering off at the rearmost point of the vessel, where it
: resumes the curve towards the front of the ship. Flush with the rear
: surface are what can only be described as glowing green disks, possibly
: exhaust ports, except no heat can be discerned from scans. Dotting the
: outer surface are blisters, nearly 15 meters in size, and their purpose
: unknown, but judging by the placement, they could easily be weapon ports,
: giving the vessel a 360ˇ angle of attack, of course, they could also be
: observation decks. Beneath the vessel is a large opening, logically
: assumed to be a docking bay for smaller craft, and the size of the
: Percipere leaves no doubt in anyone's' mind that she could easily be
: swallowed whole by this unknown behemoth.
: Cutting power to her engines, Percipere stops dead in space, rotating to
: face the alien vessel head on. Her inhuman counterpart does the same, and
: now, like a scene from an early American Western, these two strangers eye
: each other warily, not from 10 paces, but 40,000 kilometers, and the
: six-shooters of old have been replaced with fusion weapons capable of
: cutting through a planets crust.
: "Sir, all sectors are reporting full readiness. Comms requests
: further information, seems that the alien vessel hasn't even tried to
: respond. Only traffic is incoming from AntCom. Should I tell them to keep
: trying?" Lieutenant Griers' eyes shift around nervously, as if
: someone might be listening.
: Understandable. Thinks Captain Ricter. He isn't part of the standard
: crew...where is he from...Rear Command? I doubt it, he doesn't have that
: cocky attitude the deskies all seem to share. Tactical..no, wait!
: Training, that's right. He's from SolCore training, we're running a 20%
: green crew, fresh out of basic. The thought of having 25 men with no
: previous experience makes Ricter just a little nervous. The academy does
: an excellent job, I've seen the stats, but still.. His thoughts are drawn
: away from the issue by Griers' voice.
: "Sir, what do I tell Communications? They want to know if they
: should keep at it," Griers' voice shook just a little less, but he
: still looked ready to evacuate his bladder at the slightest provocation.
: "Yes, yes, tell them to keep trying. Cycle through frequency's, if
: they aren't already, and let's bring ourselves in a little closer, no more
: than 10,000 klicks,"
: "Is that wise, sir? I mean, we don't exactly know their intentions
: yet."
: "No, but they came to us. We have no reason to believe they're on a
: mission of anything but peace. Relay those orders, and go help Lieutenant
: Nece check the water recyclers," Ricters' distaste for being
: questioned was poorly masked, and Grier looked as if he had been slapped.
: A small price, the man had to learn not to question 35 years of experience
: with SolCore Surveillance Corp., especially right out of the academy.
: Turning, Ricter reminded himself to keep an eye on Grier, the man showed
: potential, and, after all, he was just following procedure that had been
: drilled into him.
: His adjacent, Major Huang, who had remained silent until this point,
: turned to follow his commander.
: "If you don't mind me asking, Sir, why did AntCom choose US to
: baby-sit the rookies?"
: "Because, Tom, we're exploring a cluster of stars, that, according
: to all previous probes, scans and tests, contains no life, intelligent or
: otherwise. Why NOT send the rookies on a mission like this?"
: "Point made, Sir," Huang smiled, he had always had a good
: relationship with the Captain, ever since their first mission on Vega, all
: those years back.
: As Percipere closes the distance towards the alien vessel, the sensor
: crew, sitting deep within her interior, surrounded by the diffused glow of
: a hundred different dials and gauges watches as each one of their readouts
: slowly began to register increasing levels of activity coming from the
: unknown ship.
: "Someone get Skipper on the horn, tell him we're starting to read
: critical levels of just about every-fuckin'-thing from that damn alien
: ship out there. She's about to pull somethin' nasty, I can tell,"
: Sensor Chief D'errico motions to one of the recruits, who scurries off
: towards the internal comm. relay, to, no doubt give word to the bridge
: that something indeed is about to happen, albeit in a much more
: politically correct way.
: "Ok, gentlemen, it seems as if our friends out there aren't taking
: too kindly to our approach. Let's back off to about
: Three-One-Zero-Zero-Zero klicks, slowly, mind you," Ricter is glad
: Grier isn't on the bridge anymore, he no doubt would have emptied into his
: uniform when he heard the object hanging in front of them was doing -- the
: Captain was again cut off from his thoughts, instead of the Lieutenant,
: however, the events unfolding on the main view screen now held his full
: attention.
: The alien vessel is suddenly aglow with a hundred points of light,
: emanating from each of the blisters on it's hull, and beneath, 20 lights,
: slightly larger in size begin to drop down from what has been named 'the
: docking bay'.
: "COMMS! GET ANTCOM ON THE PIPE, TELL 'EM SOMETHING'S HAPPENING,
: SOMETHING BIG. ALIEN VESSEL RELEASING ROUGHLY 20 SMALLER VESSELS, AND THE
: WHOLE DAMN THING IS LIT UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE," Ricter reacts
: quickly, instinct taking over, he races to his position on the bridge.
: "Shields to 70 percent frontal grid. Reverse full impulse to
: One-Zero-Zero-Zero-Zero-Zero klicks, divert power from the long range
: scanner arrays to to boost fusion batteries four, seven, and nine, and
: bring up the tactical overlay. Set Defense Readiness Two."
: "Aye, Sir. OverTac up, targeting computer is plotting points now.
: Shields are warming, and the grid is buffering to accept the additional
: capacity to weapons."
: "Skipper, AntCom wants to know what's going on over here, what do I
: tell 'em?"
: "Route AntCom through to my station, NOW!" Ricter snaps, not
: one to do so, but this is an emergency.
: "AntCom, this is Captain Ricter, SCS Percipere. Alien vessel is
: doing something, I can't tell you what yet, 'cause I don't know. Setting
: Defense Readiness Two, and backing to One hundred thousand kilometers.
: Request you advise our next move, and it'd be nice if we weren't the only
: ones out here."
: "Percipere, acknowledged. Proceed as you see fit, we're dispatching
: Diurnus and Jornee to your position from Erudition, ETA 50 standard
: minutes. Weapons limitations are in effect. Do not fire unless fired upon,
: and you are NOT to destroy the vessel unless to protect your own, DO NOT
: destroy the vessel unless absolutely necessary."
: "Roger, AntCom, thanks for the help, we'll be here if you need
: us,"
: I hope, anyway, thinks Ricter, thankfully keeping the words to himself. All
: we need now is to have me relieved..
: "Maybe we should get out of here, Sir. The chances of us beating
: something like that.." Tactical officer Wills voice slowly dies, as
: he gestures towards the monstrosity filling the viewscreen.
: "No way in Hell am I leading that thing back to a SolCore base.
: We've got two more ships due in no more than 40 minutes from now, I think
: we can do this ourselves," he looks at his watch, noticing the
: minutes seem to be ticking by all too slowly. At least I'm not the only
: one a little bit nervous.
: "Incoming, Sir! The larger ship is moving, and the little ones are
: breaking formation, heading towards us at vector zero-one-eight. They'll
: be here in a little under a minute," Wills looks like he's going to
: vomit all over the console.
: "Fire a warning shot over their bow, continue the 401 protocol, but
: let them know we mean business, and that they're to keep a reasonable
: distance."
: Percipere bucks ever so slightly, as 4000 megawatts of pure energy
: sizzle out of her forward fusion cannons. Scorching through the cold
: vacuum of space, they fly silently above the alien ship, passing a mere
: 500 yards from the upper superstructure. The aliens do not stop, and two
: more warning shots let loose from the batteries.
: "Sir, they're not stopping, range is now 20,000 kilometers.."
: "Begin auto tracking those fighters, shields to 80% fore. Bring us
: back another 20,000 klicks"
: "Yes, Sir. Opening range."
: Perciperes' thrusters being pushing her back, in an attempt to distance
: the ship from the approaching alien vessels. Being considerably smaller,
: and having the advantage of less momentum to overcome, Percipere is
: successful, the alien cruiser slips slowly backward. The approaching
: fighters, however, continue to close, and as the crew watches in horror,
: they begin to attack.
: Vaguely resembling a wing, with a structure reminiscent of a cockpit in
: the center, curving off to a tapered wing tip on either side, and a gently
: arcing bottom surface, the fighters climb 'above' Percipere, and engage a
: graceful inverted dive towards the ship.
: Perciperes' fast tracking turrets, firing explosive, depleted uranium
: shells open up, at a rate of 4,000 rounds a minute. Two of the fighters
: are caught in the hail of lead, and silently explode in a burst of green
: light. The remaining eighteen continue to dive, at a dangerously close
: 1500 meters, they begin to fire. Large bolts of green energy crackle
: through space, impacting against the shielding of the SolCore scoutship.
: Percipere is an exploration vessel, not intended for a lengthy engagement,
: she won't be able to hold up for very long, and with running out of the
: possibility, her only hope for survival is to wait for the two SolCore
: ships approaching some twenty minutes off.
: When the energy from the alien weapons comes into contact with the
: energy from the SolCore shielding, it is a simple matter of who has more
: power. If the aliens are stronger, then the SolCore shielding is
: penetrated, and the ship suffers damage, should her shielding hold,
: however, the aliens are virtually harmless. One major drawback is that it
: requires many times the power to STOP a bolt, than it does to produce it,
: and eventually something within Percipere is going to overheat and give.
: This happens a little over eight minutes into the engagement. The auto
: turrets have managed to shoot down six more fighters, drawing their number
: down to twelve. The downside is that they have figured out that her
: turrets have a limited arc of fire, and a glaring oversight is that the
: fusion ports are almost defenseless, with only two turrets capable of
: fully covering the area. Then it happens. Three of the alien ships come
: in, flying a tightly packed 'V'. At 2,200 meters, they open fire, with
: several salvos per ship before they bank upwards, nearly smashing head on
: into the invisible barrier . The first green bolts disappear against the
: shielding, but with so many coming into such a small area, the capacitors
: supplying power to the rear overheat and melt. Within seconds, a dozen or
: so bolts impact against the hull, energy sizzling as it melts through
: hardened carbon titanium steel. Ripping apart the cooling tunnels on
: fusion port two, the bolts send a backlash of energy through the vent
: system, and back onto number two reactor, scramming the core before it can
: explode. The loss of number two reactor, and the additional damage now
: being inflicted on the aft portion of the SolCore ship causes the shields
: protecting Percipere to falter, and from here the conflict is basically
: over.
: "Sir! Engineering reports number two reactor has been shut down,
: and tactical reports a shield level drop of 82 percent!"
: Another direct hit rocks the boat, and the lights flicker, and die.
: Darkness is complete, as the crew scramble to find the chemical glowbars
: beneath their stations. The emergency lights, however, kick in as they
: should, and the bridge is bathed in eerie red glow, the pulsing of the
: beams creating a near strobe effect. Communications and life support are
: backed to a different system, however, and the Communications officer,
: Major Greene begins an emergency distress call.
: "Mayday, mayday, AntCom and anyone on this frequency. This is SCS
: Percipere, we have been attacked by a vessel of unknown, presumably alien
: origin. Our ship has suffered severe structural damage, and our reactors
: are off-line. We are drifting, and helpless. Mayday, mayday, AntCom, this
: is SCS..." he is cut off as the alien cruiser opens fire, her fore
: batteries releasing a barrage of green fire. Percipere rolls end over end,
: her artificial gravity and stabilization systems destroyed. As she begins
: her stately pinwheel, the fighters let loose a barrage of fire, striking
: her aft section, above the ports. A wrenching explosion, caused by the
: collapse of fusion cores two and three engulf the rear of the ship, and
: for a minute it looks as if the entire thing may go in one massive
: detonation, but Percipere isn't finished yet.
: Drawing over the shattered, and dying SolCore vessel, the mammoth alien
: cruiser slowly begins to pull Percipere up into it's giant docking bay,
: her hull turning green in the eerie glow of the ships interior. The bridge
: command crew, watching in terror through the transparent titanium
: viewports as they are sucked into the belly of the proverbial beast.
: Captain Ricter, wincing from cracked ribs, and a broken nose, slowly
: stands, and turns to his crew.
: "Boys, I want every one of you here to know that there is not a
: better command crew I could have asked for. I don't know what this thing
: is, or where it came from, but we gave it a good run," tired cheers
: come from the crew, as he continues.
: "But we're not going to let these bastards get off scot free, are
: we?" he turns to his adjacent.
: "Tom, your key?" as he pulls a transparent green disk from
: beneath his tunic, dancing it across his knuckles while waiting for Major
: Huang to produce his.
: "It's been a pleasure serving with you, Sir. To the rest of you,
: lads, we've been the first of many things, today..first contact with a new
: species, first engagement of a war, and inflicted the first casualties
: against this new enemy..you're all going down in the history books."
: he hands his key to Ricter, slowly, reverently.
: Ricter punches a seven digit code into his console, and rising from the
: floor directly in front of him is a small, black kiosk. The majority
: dominated by a small screen, and just below that, two near invisible
: slots, exactly cut to fit the optical disks. Inserting them, he punches
: the timer and sits back, as the seconds slowly begin to tick back from
: sixty.
: Erudition followed quickly by Jornee jump into the system, and are
: witness to a horrific sight. Drifting chunks of debris swirl through
: space, expanding outward from what was once Perciperes' aft quarters,
: still flickering as the reactor cores cook off against the vacuum of
: space. The alien vessel, dominating their viewscreen is hovering
: motionless, aloof from the destruction surrounding it.
: "AntCom, this is Erudition, it looks like there's been one helluva
: fight down here, Percipere's aft quarters are floating some 2,000 klicks
: from us now, the command bridge seems to have up and disappeared. That big
: fucker of a ship is just sittin' there, like nothin-" an explosion
: rips through the heart of the cruiser, fiery hot gas expanding outward
: from the bottom of the docking port. Slowly, at first, the alien ship
: loses all motion stabilization, and rapidly tumbles out of control.
: Seconds later, gouts of burning gas being to erupt from the hull, starting
: aft, and working forward,until, in one massive explosion the entire ship
: disintegrates, nothing left but an expanding ring of debris and 'fire'.
: Silently, the SolCore ships watch, as do thousands more in Antilles
: Command, as the expanding halo of debris flies silently outward, all that
: is left of 125 men and women of the SolCore navy, in addition to an
: unknown alien vessel, the first and only extraterrestrial contact with man
: by any species in thousands of years. The time for mourning is brief, as
: the tactical sector map begins to light up with thousands of red
: triangles, as unknown ships begin to enter the sector. As each contact is
: registered, it recieves a number, and a string of letters, denoting it's
: location, time of contact, and the computer tallies all of these into a
: summary for the hour. At sixty minutes end, over ten thousand registers
: have been entered, but by that time, no one is left alive to take count.
: If I remember correctly, there are a ton of similarities, but also a lot of
: differences in the Universe depicted here and the final one that was used
: for Halo:CE. Unfortunately, at the moment I cannot find my Halo: The Fall
: of Reach book, so...you guys can compare this to the "truth" as
: we know it yourselves. :-D
: --Alexis
thought i would do that just to piss u off. what is that some kinda fan fiction crap or do u still have the url to prove it real
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